


The One Where Clint is Steve's Weakness

by JinxQuickfoot



Series: Weaknesses [12]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Avengers Family, Deaf Clint Barton, Hostage Situations, Hurt Clint Barton, Kidnapping, Pre-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Protective Natasha Romanov, Protective Steve Rogers, Rescue Missions, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-01
Updated: 2020-04-01
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:22:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23423125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JinxQuickfoot/pseuds/JinxQuickfoot
Summary: “We have a deal between us. If one of us ever fell into enemy hands, and the choice was between spending enough time with them that it wouldn’t be worth coming back or a bullet - we’d let the other take the bullet.”----------------------------------------------------------------------------As the Avengers take down what remains of Hydra, one of their own is taken, and it's up to Steve to get his teammate out of Hydra's grasp.
Relationships: Clint Barton & Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton & Steve Rogers
Series: Weaknesses [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1672462
Comments: 6
Kudos: 60
Collections: Weaknesses





	The One Where Clint is Steve's Weakness

**Author's Note:**

> Day 12 of the "Weaknesses" writing challenge.
> 
> [Come say hi on Tumblr - I take requests!](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/jinxquickfoot)

It was nearly dusk by the time Tony Stark’s voice crackled in Steves’s ear, saying the words Steve had been waiting for for nearly two hours.

“We got ‘em.”

Steve exhaled as he shouldered his shield. “Good. Everyone meet back at the jet.”

“Tired, Capsicle?”

“Why, you want to keep going? Because Romanoff got intel of another Hydra base a few miles from here.”

“I am for continuing the battle!” Thor’s voice joined theirs over the coms. “We should not be sleeping while our enemy prepares.”

“Negative on that one, Point Break,” Tony replied. “I have a video chat scheduled with Pepper and if you think big bad Hydra’s scary, then you haven’t seen Pepper when I’m late for our dates.”

Steve trudged through the falling snow towards the Avengers’s jet; their temporary home while they scoured Eastern Europe for the remains of Hydra. The team had come a long way since New York, and the time spent in close quarters had the Avengers getting to know each other _very_ well. _Too well,_ Tony had complained, but Steve didn’t mind. It reminded him of being down in the trenches with the Howling Commandos, sharing tents and jokes and whatever else they had between them.

Steve was the first back to the jet. Checking no one else was around, he quickly pulled out his phone, checking for updates from Sam. Just the usual: _Nothing yet. I’ll keep looking._

The whir of repulsers to his right made Steve look up at the blur of red and gold landing beside him. “On your phone, Cap? Really? The modern era has ruined you.”

Steve tucked the phone away as the suit opened and Tony stepped out of it, the suit neatly folding away into a briefcase. “Just checking for updates.”

“Was a cat video? Please tell me it was a cat video. Or,” he gave an exaggerated gasp. “Don’t tell me it was a _girl_.”

“It wasn't-” was as much as Steve got out before a second figure landed beside him, sending tremors though the ground, and Thor clapped a hand on his shoulder.

“Congratulations, my friend!”

“There’s no girl!”

“Not for lack of trying,” Natasha’s voice joined their conversation via comms. “That’s me trying, by the way. Not Rogers.”

“Didn’t know you swung that way, Romanoff,” Tony said as the ramp to the jet opened. “Not that it matters - I just thought your type was more…scientist-y.”

“Where is Banner?” Steve asked her, shooting Tony a warning look - which Tony ignored. 

“Got him back, Cap,” Natasha replied. “We’re on our way to you now. Two minutes tops.”

“Barton?”

The team was greeted with radio silence. “Barton?” Steve said again into the comms. “Hawkeye - check in.”

Tony rolled his eyes as he spoke into his own comm. “I swear Barton if this is _another_ prank, I’m confiscating all your shiny toys and Cap is going to send you to your room. We’re not angry, just disappointed.”

“Stark,” Steve warned. “Barton, check in.”

Nothing. Steve, Thor and Tony glanced at each nervously. There was a long pause, then-

“Clint?”

The worry in Natasha’s voice suddenly made it real. “Stark.” Steve turned to Tony. “Perimeter. Give us a bird’s eye view. Thor - go back to the Hydra base, see if he’s still there.” 

“On it, Cap,” Tony said, already back in the suit and headed for the skies. Thor gave Steve a nod, swinging Mjölnir and following close behind.

“Romanoff, how far-“

He didn’t need to finish the question. Natasha appeared over a snowbank, tugging Bruce with her, who was wrapped in a blanket. “What’s going on?” the physicist asked, his eyes bloodshot. “Clint’s missing?”

Steve met Natasha’s eyes. Her resolve strengthened his.

“Get Banner inside,” he ordered her. Natasha nodded and helped Bruce up the ramp into the jet. Into the comms, Steve added, “Anything?”

“Hydra’s fortress remains empty,” Thor informed him.

“Stark?”

“Yeah I got something. You’re not going to like it though.”

“Get to the point.”

“Truck headed north. Too heavily armoured to be a regular supply truck. And filled with heat signatures so it’s definitely people in there. Anyone want to place a bet that one of our those heat signatures is our Legolas?”

“Can you stop the truck?”

“Can I stop the…Yes I can stop _one_ truck, Cap, geez. Thor, buddy - you’re not tapped out for the day are you?”

“If tapped out means defeated, then I am never tapped out.”

“Copy that. Wanna race?”

“Steve!”

The use of his first name made Steve turn towards the jet where Natasha was beckoning to him, her eyes frantic. “Are Stark and Thor going after that truck?”

“That’s the plan - we think Barton’s in there.”

“Stop them. Now.”

Steve didn’t even hesitate. “Stark, Thor. Hold off.”

“Why?” Tony demanded as Thor says, “We have the enemy in our sights!”

“Just hold!” Steve bounded up the ramp to where Natasha was waiting, pointing at one of the jet’s holo-screens.

Steve’s heart skipped a beat. The holo-screen showed Clint, his hands bound behind his back, two Hydra operatives holding guns on him. There was blood covering one side of his face and, from the glazed look in his eyes, it looked as if he’d been hit - hard.

A monocled man stepped into frame and Steve’s fist clenched.

“We meet again, Captain.”

“Strucker,” Steve ground out.

“So you and your team decided to drop by my base. Do you approve of how Hydra has progressed these past decades?”

“Your security could use an update.”

Strucker gave him a cold smile as he pulled a hand gun from his belt and levelled it at Clint. “Call your dogs off, Rogers.”

Steve placed a finger to his ear. “Stark, Thor…leave the truck alone.”

“I got this, Rogers. Give me two minutes-”

“Stark, can you just listen to me this once?”

“You want to them to drag Barton off to whatever Hydra torture hole they have waiting for him?”

“Tony! Back off!”

Tony must have registered the distress in his voice, because a frustrated sigh came through the comms. “Fine. But if they start sending us fingers in the mail that’s on you, Cap.”

Steve exhaled, turning back to Strucker, who was smirking at him. “Good to see you have a handle on your team, Captain,” he said dryly. 

“It’s been enough to take down most of Hydra.”

“Indeed.” Strucker walked around behind Clint, grabbing his hair and pulling his head up so he was looking in the camera. Steve felt Natasha tense at his elbow, a soft hiss escaping her lips as Strucker placed his gun to Clint’s temple. “You have been something of a nuisance. But that’s going to stop now.”

“You think so?”

“If you want the archer back in one piece - yes.” Tony’s line about fingers in the mail flashed through Steve’s mind, making him wince.

“This is the deal, Rogers,” Strucker continued. “Return to New York. Once I have evidence the Avengers are out of Eastern Europe, and you give us time to rebuild, I’ll return your hawk to you.”

“No.” The word came from Natasha. Strucker turned his attention to her for the first time, smiling. “Miss Romanoff-”

“Agent Romanoff,” she corrected him. “And you’re not holding Barton for that long. That’s off the table.”

Strucker took the safety off the gun pointed at Clint’s head, and Natasha flinched. “So our intel is true,” Strucker mused. “You and Barton are as close as they say. And yet you seem ok with me putting a hole in his skull.”

“That’s preferable to spending months with Hydra,” Natasha shot back as she leaned forward. The move looked intimidating, but Steve spotted her shaking hands before she gripped the back of a chair. “And if you shoot him now, Stark and Thor will knock that truck off the road.”

Strucker turned that over. “Allow us to leave unhindered,” he finally said. “And we will not harm Barton. We will call in an hour to negotiate further.”

The feed shut off. Natasha put her face in her hands, letting the shakes take control of her body. Steve stepped forward, unsure how to help. “We’ll get him back,” he offered. His own stomach felt sick, and he couldn’t shake Clint’s glazed eyes from his mind, didn’t want to imagine what they had done to the usual sarcastic, banter-filled archer to make him so docile.

“Steve.” Natasha pulled herself together, looking up to meet Steve’s eyes. “If the choice comes between leaving him to Hydra or…” She swallowed hard, then pushed on. “We have a deal between us. If one of us ever fell into enemy hands, and the choice was between spending enough time with them that it wouldn’t be worth coming back or a bullet - we’d let the other take the bullet.”

If Steve had thought he felt sick before, it was nothing to how he was feeling now. “It won’t come to that,” he promised her. Into the comms, he said. “Stark. Thor. Come back to the jet. We have some planning to do.”

He squeezed Natasha’s on the shoulder as he went towards the back of the jet to check on Bruce. He had meant what he had - he was getting Clint back, no matter what. 

**Author's Note:**

> NOTE: This work is currently on hiatus.
> 
> I'm taking a break from the "Weaknesses" series and posting from Ao3 in general over September. I am still going to return to the unfinished fics and am determined to finish the series - and I will. But this bad news is caused by good news, and that is that the reason I'm taking this break is so that I can prep for my very first Whumptober. I will writing the fics over September and posting throughout October, and return to "Weaknesses" come November. So all in all, no new chapters for me from a month, but then you're getting 31 new fics from me in October! I already have some terribly evil whumpish ideas that I'm really excited to share you with you!
> 
> So hey, I have this film and screenwriting podcast? It's called "Kill the Cat" and once a month my co-host and I and break down one of our favourite movies or tv shows and look at why they work, including Harry Potter, The Princess Bride, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and, of course, the MCU.
> 
> You can check it out on [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ypaen3yM5Q&t=1s&ab_channel=KilltheCatPodcast), [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/show/5hCprc9UCBZP4srFrBXKT1?si=ZOqdhMlVQvqV2fG5PxuvOA), or anywhere you listen to podcasts. 
> 
> And hey. You're doing great.


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